Today’s main attraction has been the number of small boats that have been out and about in Freetown harbor.  Small boats here are all locally built and have distinctively different lines than the boats that I’m used to seeing.  They’re all working boats, open and with high bows that must help keep everyone dry when there’s a sea running  While the bigger boats run with outboard motors, many of the smaller ones are paddled with leaf-shaped paddles or are propelled by sails often made up of bedsheets or random bits of cloth stitched together and looking like a patchwork quilt.  A spritsail rig seems to be very popular.  What is particularly interesting is how highly decorated they are.  Not only are they brightly painted, often in the colors of the Sierra Leonean flag, but they also usually have, in large letters, names like “BELIEVE IN GOD” painted on them.  This is a very different world from all of the white fiberglass boats with names like “Millionaire’s Toy” that I’m used to seeing.
    I took a shower this morning, after deck wash:  the first one I’ve been able to take since arriving in Africa.  It is definitely low-tech here, as our drinking water is delivered in five-gallon water-cooler jugs that we pour into the ship’s water tank.  Less potable water for washing and other tasks is brought out from the navy base and we keep a barrel of it on deck.  Showers happen by way of a five-gallon bucket hoisted into the rigging with a siphon hose and a clamp.  It felt great to be clean after yesterday’s grubby work, but a new layer of sunscreen immediately had me feeling grubby again.
    This afternoon, Barry, the Engineer, and I took the zodiac to the navy base to pick up drinking water for the ship.  On the way back, I learned how to run the outboard motor, thus filling in one of my major nautical knowledge deficiencies.  Now, all I’ve got to do is to get some practice time in, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem, since we’ve got several trips every day to pick up or drop off our security guards or to ferry crew members who have the day off.

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